Laverne Cox Talks Her Historic Emmy Nomination For 'OITNB'

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ETONLINE

When the Primetime Emmy nominations were announced last month, history was made when Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Emmy.

Cox, who plays the transgender inmate Sophia Burset on the Netflix original series, walked the red carpet at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, and stopped to talk to ET's Brooke Anderson about her historic nomination.


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"I've been thinking a lot about that today, and the history of that moment, and I hope that it inspires a lot of other trans actors to pursue their dreams and know that their dreams are possible," said Cox. "And also inspire people in the industry to think that you can actually cast trans actors to play trans roles, and we might do a pretty good job."

Cox added, "And maybe you can cast trans folks to play roles that are not, necessarily, trans."


VIDEO: Laverne Cox Talks 'Time' Cover and Transgender Tipping Point

The topic of trans actors getting shut out of playing trans roles reached a tipping point last year when actor Jared Leto took some heat online for playing the transgender character Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, as many believed the role should have gone to a transgender performer.

When Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallee was asked during a CBC Radio One interview if he had considered casting a transgender actor for the role, Vallee responded, "No. Is there any transgender actor? To my knowledge, I don't know one… I never thought of that… I never thought of hiring a real rodeo guy to play the rodeo Ron Woodruff. And just like in every film, we're actors, we're directors. I'm not aiming for the real thing. I'm aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing."


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So how does Cox feel about her popular and acclaimed stint on OITNB?

"It's completely a dream come true," Cox said. "And so now a lot of my dreams have come true, and I have to set new goals, and I already have. I'm very ambitious."

Check out the video for more from the celebrated Cox, and see if she manages to take home Emmy gold when the awards air live on Monday, August 25 on NBC.

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